“We played like a diesel engine. We needed some time to heat up,” said coach Francis Vicente of the Lady Slammers shortly after formally making the semis for the second consecutive time.

As per tournament format, the semifinals will be a crossover knockout game with no. 1 taking on no. 4 and no. 2 going up against no. 3.

The loss relegated RC Cola to a battle against winless Meralco for 5th place.

“I don't want to say that we have to be the No. 1, but, as much as possible, we really want to be the No. 1,” Vicente said. “We have to win our next two matches against Cignal and Petron to reach our goal of entering the semis on top of the standings.”

Sara McClinton finished with 12 points while Linda Morales played sluggish with nine points for the Raiders, who had a seven-game losing skid after opening the tournament with a five-set win over Meralco.